Venetian blind headbar and hardware therefor



May 22, 1956 A. w. LOUCONY VENETIAN BLIND HEADBAR, AND HARDWARE THEREFOR Filed U811. 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR AdoZp/m WLoa/cony ATTORNFYJ May 22, 1956 A. LOUCONY VENETIAN BLIND HEADBAR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E Hui-i1 w 0 INVENTOR Ado Zp/7e W Zouco lift cords.

. held in position. headbar against spreading, the present invention provides a tie bar having a portion extending across the open HEADBAR AND HARDWARE THEREFOR Application October 25, 1952, Serial No, 316,930 3 Claims. (Cl. 160-177) YENETIAN BLIND This invention relates to Venetian blinds, and more particularly to the hardware therefor.

Venetian blinds are usually assembled from parts or units purchased by the manufacturer of the complete .blind. Such parts include headbars, slats, ladder tapes,

tape rockers, tilters, lift cord controls, etc., which may be purchased from difierent concerns. I l f The present invention is concerned particularly with a sheet metal headbar of U-shaped cross section and its appurtenances or hardware, and an object of this invention is to provide'improved hardware which may be made economically, which will be sturdy and long-lasting, and

which is easily assembled in the sheet nietal headbar. To this end, the present invention provides brackets for the headbar which are formed of sheet metal provided with a transverse bend providing a horizontal plate and a vertical plate, the vertical plate being of the size to slidably fit the U-shaped headbar and the horizontal plate being adapted to rest on the bottom of theheadbar.

According to the present invention, the brackets at both ends of the headbar, which diifer from each other,

together, with the bracket located between the ends of v the bar, are all formed by a basic set of tools having removable punches for producing the diifering portions, thereby avoiding thenecessity of having two sets of blanking and forming tools, one for each bracket. When the brackets are initially formed, the bracket which is to be used for the lift cord unit is pierced by one set of removable punches to provide attaching means for the unit and an aperture through \which the lift cord may pass, and the bracket which is to be used for the tilt unit is pierced by another set of removable punches to provide attaching means .for-the tilt unit and to provide an aperture through which the tilt cord may extend. Each of the different-formed brackets has at the end of its horizontal plate a downwardly oifset and parallel tab to extend into a slot in the bottom of the headbar. The horizontal plate also has adjacent the attaching tab a pair of parallel vertical flanges each having a pair of aligned holes for receiving the axles of sheaves for the When the bracket is to be used for the tilter end of the headbar, the sheave axle is placed in one pair of holes Whereas when it is to be used for the lift cord end of the headbar it is placed in the other pair of holes, and therefore the brackets may be made alike for the purpose of providing mounting for the sheaves.

Each bracket is provided at the upper end of the vertical plate with an offset portion forming ears having beads at their ends which fit into the rolled upper edges of the front and back sides of the headbar. Thus, when the attaching tab at the end of the horizontal plate is inserted in the headbar and the bracketis swung downwardly, the beaded portions of the vertical plate will snap under the rolled edges of the headbar and be thereby To holdthe sides of the U-shaped Patented May 22, 1956 "ice on the bearing. It is also provided with an arm which is bent out andup to act as an end stop for the tilter rod.

To reduce the cost of the headbar hardware, the tilt bar of the present invention is made of a strip of sheet metal bent to have a substantially U-shaped cross-section, and the tape rockers are provided with D-shaped holes to fit the U-shaped tilt rod so that the rod and the rockers will rotatetogether. The tape rockers are made of sheet metal havingthe ends bent down and provided with the D-shaped holes while the sides are bent more or less drum-shape, the upper portion of the rocker being substantially flat and having tongues to receive loops in the ladder tapes. The ends of the tape rocker are resilient and biased to move outwardly and thus tighten themselves on the tilter rod so as to resist longitudinal movement of the rocker on the tilter rod. Manual pressure onthe ends of the rocker will release the ends from the tilter rod so that the'rockers can be slid along the rod to desired position. To offer yielding resistance to such movement of the ends of the rocker, the sides are provided with cam surfaces engaged by the ends which require the sides to spring outwardly slightly in being moved to released position.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. a In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the present invention: a

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a headbar for Venetian blinds with the front side broken away to show the construction of the hardware provided by the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the tape rocker and tilter rod of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the stamped and formed piece which may be used as a bracket for either end of the headbar. I i

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a sheet metal headbar with the hardware of the present invention installed therein.

Fig. 6 is a view of the bracket blank modified to receive the tilt unit.

- Fig. 7 is a view of the bracket blank showing it moditied to receive the lift cord control unit.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5,.showing the central portion of arelatively long headbar.

Fig. 9 is an end view of the tilt unitand bracket therefor.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the usual metal headbar 10 is formed of rather thin sheet metal bent to a U-shape cross-section having a bottom 11 and front and back sides 12. The tops of the sides 12 have rolled edges 13 to give the sides greater rigidity. The ends of the headbar are initially open, but, on occasion, may be closed by suitable end plates not shown. The bottom 11 is punched out to provide clearance holes 14 and 15 for lift cords 16, a hole 17 for the tilt cord 18, and holes 19 for the ladder tapes 20.

The units for controlling the blind are mountedwithin the headbar and, according to the present invention, are supported on brackets 21 which may be snapped in place within the headbar to be retained therein by the rolled edges 13. The bracket 21 at the left end of the headbar, in the form shown, carries the tilt unit 22 while the bracket at the right end carries the lift cord control unit 23.

In order to reduce the cost of manufacturing the brackets 21, they are made frominitially identical blanked and formed sheet metal pieces. As shown in Fig. 4, this piece is a rather complicated stamping and the die therefor is expensive. By having the parts initially identical, only one such die is needed. Besides, economies are effected in the manufacture of the bracket by permitting production of long runs twice that possible if two separate forming dies were used.

As shown in Fig. 4, the bracket 21 of the present in vention as initially formed, has all the shapes and parts necessary to serve at either end of the headbar, except those which are unique to the particular unit to be attached to the right or left bracket. The bracket is formed to have a transverse bend 24 forming a horizontal plate 25 and a vertical plate 26 at right angles to the plate 25. The forward end of the plate 25 has a downwardly ofiset parallel attaching tab 27 which slidingly fits a slot 28 in the bottom 11 of the headbar and holds the end of the plate securely down against the bottom 11. Inwardly from the tab 27 the plate 25 has parallel vertical flanges 29 extending upwardly and downwardly from the plane of the plate and an aperture 30 between the flanges registering with the lift cord apertures 14 in the bottom 11. The flanges 30 are pierced to provide pairs of aligned holes 31, 32 and 33, the holes 31 and 32 selectively receiving an axle 34' for a lift cord sheave'35. When the bracket is used at the left-hand end of the headbar the axle is inserted in the holes 31, and when it is to be used in the right-hand end the axle is placed in the holes 32. Also, when the bracket is used at the right-hand end, a cord retainer rod 36 is inserted in the holes 33, but in the lefthand bracket this is omitted since it is not needed. The lower ends of the flanges 30 may extend into the lift cord holes 14 to aid in locking the bracket on the bottom plate by preventing the tab 27 from being pulled longitudinally out of the slot 28.

The vertical plate 26 is of such width and height that when it is located between the side walls 12 of the headbar it substantially engages the same and contributes in holding the sides 12 perpendicular to the bottom 11 against inward movement. At its upper end, the vertical plate 26 has an outwardly extending horizontal flange 37 provided with laterally extending cars 38 having beaded ends 39.

In assembling the bracket in the headbar, the tab 27 is inserted in the slot 28 and the bracket'is swung downwardlywhile the sides 12 of the headbar are spread until the cars 38 are located below the rolled edges 13, at which time the sides 12 are sprung in so that the edges 13 snap over the beads or protuberances 39 on the ears 38.. At this time the lower edge of the vertical plate 26 and the bottom surface of the horizontal plate 25 engage the bottom 11 of the headbar.

To hold the bracket in proper position in the headbar and to resist the spreading movement of thesides 12 thereof, the present invention provides a tie bar 40, preferably in the form of a bent wire, having legs 41 which extend into the rolled edges 13 of the headbar. The legs 41 have lateral bends 42 so as to engage both sides of the rolledredges 13 and thus be frictionally held in place therein; When, as is not unusual, the bracket 21 is located near the end of the headbar, the legs 41 of the tie bar extend in the space between the beads 39 on the bracket and the rolled edges 31 as shown in Fig. 2. To strengthen the bracket, the horizontal plate 25, the vertical plate 26 and the flange 37 may be formed with stiifening ribs 43 and the bend 24 may be made rigid by embossing 44.

The bracket 21, as initially formed, is also provided with a bearing for supporting the tilt rod 45. For this purpose the vertical plate 26 has a blanked out portion 4 6 including a slot, the metal being drifted to form a substantial half-round bearing 47 in which the end of the tilt rod is rotatably supportedor' cradled. In the forming the slot 46, part of the metal is permitted to remain and this casual 'or inadvertent movement.

is bent outwardly and backwardly to form a lug 48 which may be bent over the half-bearing 47 to retain therein the end of the tilt rod 45. A portion of the plate 26 is blanked and formed so as to extend outwardly and upwardly to form an end stop 49 for the tilt rod 45.

The bracket 21 as above described may be used for either the right-hand or left-hand end of the headbar. Those brackets which are to be used for the right-hand end of the headbar are subjected to a further stamping and forming operation, which may be done with a very simple and inexpensivedie, for the purpose of receiving the lift cord control unit 23. 'This operation involves piercing the plate 25 to provide, as shown in Fig. 7, a lift cord clearance hole 50 and slots 51 for receiving tabs 52 on the lower end of a frame 53 which carries the lift cord sheave 54 and lift cord lock 55. In the operation of piercing the plate 25 to provide the slots 51, the plate may have an embossing to provide a raised table 56 so that the ears 52 may lie between the underside of the table 56 and the bottom 11 of the headbar.

- Those brackets which are to be used for the left-hand add the headbar are subjected to a different stamping and forming operation, which also may be done with a very simple and inexpensive die, for the purpose of providing a clearance hole 57 for the tilt cord and cars 58 for securing the tilt unit 22 to theplate 25. The tilt unit in the form shown comprises a frame having a horizontal plate 59 provided with slots 60 through which the cars 58 on the bracket plate 25 extend to be bent over and secure the plate 59 to the bracket. The tilt unit, frame also includes a vertical member 61 having bearings for a tilt cord sheave 62 and worm 62a and for a tilt segment 63. The tilt segment 63 has a noncircular socket 63a preferably D-shape to fit the end of the tilt rod 45 and support that end, and it also has an end stop 64 to limit the longitudinal movement of the tilt rod.- Thus', it will be seen, the half-round bearing 47, 1mg 48 and end stop 49 on the bracket, when used for the left-hand end of the headbar, do not perform any function. But, it should also be observed that these parts are located out of the way and do not interfere with any other parts.

The hole 57 in the plate 25 of the left-hand bracket aligns with the hole 17, in .the bottom 11 of the headbar to provide for the passage of the 'tilt cord. To guide the tilt cord through the-holes 57 and 17 clear of the edges thereof, the plate59 of the tilt unit frame has an aperture with rounded edges 65 forminga fair-leader for the tilt cord, as shown in Fig. 9.

It will be seen from the above that the present invention provides a single stamping, shown in Fig. 4, which may be used for either the left-hand or the right-hand end of the headbar by receiving further simple operations to modify them as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 respectively.

The present'invention also provides improvements in connection with the tilt rod and tape rockers of Venetian blinds. According to the present invention, the tilt rod 45 is made of a strip of sheet metal having a subs'tantially U-shape cross-section, the flat formed by the erlds'of the legs forming a driving couple with the socket of the tilt segment 63 and assuring rotation of the tape rockers 66 by and with the rod 45.

According to the present invention, the tilt rockers 66 are also made of sheet metal and comprise a more or less flat portion 67 provided with struck out fingers 68 to receive loops 69 at the upper ends of the ladder tapes 20. Extending downwardly from the portion 67, in somewhat drum-shape form, are sides 70 and extending downwardly from the ends of the portion 67 are disk-like ends 71. The ends 71 have D-shaped holes 72 to receive the U-shape tilt rod 45.

The metal of tape rocker is resilient and the ends '71 are formed to be biased outwardly, thereby resiliently binding ,or clamping themselves to the tilt rod against When it is desired to to clamping position;

as when assembling the rockers on the shaft or adjusta ing them in line with the tapes, it is merely necessary to grip them between the finger to squeeze the ends 71 tilt rod and permitting free movement thereon. When the grip on the ends 71 is released, they will spring out To augment the resiliency of the ends 71 and assure their springing out to clamping position, the sides 70 are provided with embossed cams 73 engaging lugs 74 on the ends 71, Thus when the ends are squeezed together, they also tend to expand the sides 70.

The bracket blank 21 of the present invention may also advantageously serve in position between the ends of the headbar. For instance, the bracket 21 may be mounted midway between the ends of the headbar, as

in the case of a three-ladder blind, and there serve to support the tilt rod 45 intermediate its length. When the blank 21 is to be used in an intermediate position in the headbar it is merely necessary to subject it to the additional operations of removing the portion 75 of the flange 37 carrying the cars 38 and the end stop 49, thereby permitting the tilt rod to be dropped into the half-round v bearing 47, after which the lug 48 may be bent over the rod to retain it therein.

The bracket 21, as initially formed, is provided with pilot holes 21 by means of which the bracket may be I properly located in the dies performing the additional individual operations.

having a uniform width to closely, slidingly fit between the side walls of the headbar and having a slot in its upper portion provided with a rolled-over, semi-circular lower edge to form a half-bearing open at the top to receive and support a tilt rod, said upper portion having a transverse bend to olfset the upper extremity thereof laterally of the remainder of the plate so as 'to provide an unobstructed passage to the said half-bearing from above; and an arm struck out of the vertical plate and extending upward in a direction away from the said rightangle bend and in spaced relation to said semi-circular edge to form an end stop to limit the movement of the rod in one direction.

2. A sheet-metal, open-top, channel-shaped headbar for Venetian blinds having inwardly-rolled semi-cylindrical, upper, longitudinally-extending edge portions the move the tape rocker longitudinally of the tilt rod 45,

1 form a horizontal plate and a vertical plate, the latter g edges of which are spaced from the inner walls of the headbar a distance slightly less than the diameter of the roll; a bracket comprising a sheet-metal stamping having a transverse right-angle bend to form a horizontal plate and a vertical plate, the latter having a width to slidingly fit between the side walls of the headbar and having horizontally extending ears provided at their extremities with protuberances to snap under the rolled upper edges of the side walls of the headbar with the horizontal plate in engagement with the bottom wall of the headbar, the size of the bases of said protuberances being of the same order of magnitude as the spacing between the walls and in-rolled edges of the headbar, the protuberances nesting within said in-rolled edge portions with space therebetween; and a tie bar having a portion extending across the space between the ends of the side Walls of the headbar and arms extending into the rolled-edge portions of the same and occupying the space between said portions and said protuberances, said tie bar preventing such spreading of the side walls as would release said protuberances from the edge portions.

3. In a Venetian blind, a headbar; a bracket at each end thereof; a tilt rod supported in the brackets; and tape rockers on the tilt rod and splined thereto, each rocker having a sheet metal drum body and two ends, both the said ends having holes through which the tilt rod passes and both said ends being resiliently biased in directions axially of the drum and away from each other to grip the tilt rod and hold the rocker in adjusted position thereon, said ends being manually bendable axially of the drum body against the biasing force to release the rocker from the tilt rod for shifting therealong, and in which the body of the rocker is also resilient and has camming means to urge the ends to gripping positions, said camming means resisting the movement of the ends to releasing position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,141,502 Ajouelo Dec. 27, 1938 2,534,080 Stuber et al Dec. 12, 1950 2,580,252 Stuber et al. Dec. 25, 1951 2,589,846 Nelson Mar. 18, 1952 2,593,048 Nelson Apr. 15, 1952 2,614,623 Nelson Oct. 21, 1952 2,614,625 DiIenno Oct. 25, 1952 2,620,866 Rosenbaum Dec. 9, 1952 2,620,868 Rosenbaum Dec. 9, 1952 2,622,673 Nelson Dec. 23, 1952 7 2,629,434 Nelson Feb. 24, 1953 2,651,358 Lorentzen Sept. 8, 1953 2,663,368 Walker Dec. 22, 1953 

